Baldur's Gate: First Level!

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Walk with us as we play the opening scene of Sorrent's new RPG.

By Levi Buchanan

Sorrent's Stephanie Morgan sat down with us this AM at a local Starbucks to pass off a LGX7000 loaded with the wireless publisher's latest, Baldur's Gate. While sipping one of those "light" vanilla things (ooh, the carbs!), we plied Morgan with Qs about the game and let her lead us through the first of seven in-game levels.

Each level of Baldur's Gate has a main quest and a sub-quest. Naturally, the sub-quest is optional, but if you choose to indulge the plight of the secondary, there is often a fat reward. For example, in the first world, a leafy level, an NPC implored us to save some nearby travelers, trapped by a spell.

Off we went, tromping through the glen in search of the trio of waylaid vagabonds. One locating them, we needed to complete a rudimentary tile puzzle to free each traveler from their holding spell. With each freed friend, we received gold and experience points. Once we finally finished the task, a chest spit forth a half-plate, a piece of armor that would help us withstand blows from a horde of goblins at the end of the level.

The first level is fairly linear. We never eally worried about getting lost, as the path through the forest seemed by clean and clear. However, a brief peek at the second level revealed a cave environment, so perhaps we'll encounter some navigation issues there.

As we walked through the forest, it become obvious that Sorrent's big concern was to create a good RPG experience, but not saddle a wireless game down with the trimmings and trappings of a full console (or PC) RPG. True, Baldur's Gate bears the brand of the famous PC series, but this game is only related in spirit and place, the famous D&D world, Forgotten Realms.

So, instead of really having to worry about targeting and scrolling to items and spells, an easy auto-target feature switches between incoming foes, helping you zero in on the most imminent threat. When outside of a combat situation, the same target switches between chests and NPCs. Pressing the OK button automatically draws you to whatever target is selected. This is convenient 99% of the time, but if you ever touch the OK key by accident, you'll suddenly find your character wandering for whatever is targeted, rather than the direction you were pressing the touchpad.

The forest level ends with a burly brawl between your character and a horde of yellow-skinned goblins. It's not a tough fight, per se, but it does put the OK key (attack) through a work-out. After finishing off the goblin masses, we rescued a wizard (cleric?), enjoyed the fruits of our labors, and then went off in search of more fantasy action.

So far, Baldur's Gate shows enormous promise. An action RPG is just what handsets need right now to offset the major influx of sports titles, movie-based games, and puzzlers. We'll be back soon with a full review of Sorrent's game once we've seen more of the fabled Forgotten Realms.